All I Want for Christmas
by Aryea
Summary: I have received several requests to re-post my older stories, and in particular this Three Part Series. Because I do appreciate my fans, here it is. I will try and get a chapter up every few days, as I am tweaking as I go. The third installment of this story has gone missing, so I will attempt to rewrite it and have it up before Christmas. I hope you enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: The characters of Relic Hunter belong to Fireworks Entertainment. I am only borrowing them for a bit of fun and am making no monetary gain at their expense. The plot and concept of the story is mine, so please do not reproduce without my permission.

Part one of a three part series. The third in the series has been lost, so I will attempt to rewrite and have it ready before Christmas of this year. Enjoy.

* * *

By: Aryea

**ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS**

Sydney glanced up from her paperwork when Claudia turned up the radio and allowed Jingle Bells to filled the outer room. The young secretary had decorated the office with surprising enthusiasm, and while Sydney didn't mind a little festive adornment, Claudia was going a little overboard.

For one thing, there was mistletoe pinned to every doorway and a huge piece hung directly over Nigel's desk. The Englishman had stood on top of the desk to pull the kissing flower down three times already, but Claudia wasn't about to let that stop her.

Sydney sighed and turned in her seat to glance out over the snow-covered campus, and spied her young assistant as he hurried crossed the quad to get to the portion of campus that housed the Ancient Studies office. He was dressed for the weather, dark slacks, black boots, a soft ivory sweater and his hands shoved into the pockets of his brown winter coat, hanging open to expose the sweater. A handsome crimson scarf that his friend Professor Shaw had given him, adorned his collar. Shaw was an English/Literature Professor and she and Nigel attended poetry and book readings whenever they could.

Nigel seemed older than when he had first come to work for Sydney; wiser and more secure than the young, uncertain student he had been when he arrived. Perhaps hunting relics had matured him; it had at least brought him out of his shell; granted kicking and screaming at first. Now, he'd follow Sydney wherever she wanted to take him, no questions asked.

Sydney used to think of him as a sweet, naive kid, even though there wasn't that much of a gap between their ages, but now she was beginning to think of him more as a man, a strong, intelligent, sensitive and capable man.

"Sydney?" Claudia called from the doorway, bringing Sydney out of her thoughts of Nigel and their years together.

She turned from the window. "What is it, Claudia?"

"Some woman named Jenny on line two."

Sydney snatched up the phone. "Jenny, hi!"

Claudia closed the door to Sydney's office, giving her some privacy for the call, just as Nigel entered. Her lips formed a predatory smile as she welcomed him. "Hi ya, honeybun."

He paused, just inside the doorway and eyed her, warily. "Hello, Claudia."

"Look up." She pointed towards the ceiling with a slow smile.

Nigel looked up and grimaced, there was mistletoe tacked to almost every part of the office ceiling. He really didn't have the strength to deal with Claudia today. He immediately backed out of the room as she advanced. "Claudia, aren't you overdoing it just a bit? I mean, really."

"I don't know what you mean, honeybun," Claudia assured, posing at her desk, knowing that he had to come in sooner or later. "I'm just spreading a little holiday cheer." She leered at him and pulled her shinny red top lower to expose more of her ample bosom. "Ya know, good will toward men, or at least one particular one." She pulled out strawberry flavored lip-gloss and applied it generously to her glistening red lips, before licking them suggestively.

"Sydney!" Nigel called, glaring at Claudia. There was no way he was going in there with that...that man-eater! He'd never make it to his desk, before she molested him. A crush was one thing, but this was getting silly. She could just be having him on, God knew she loved seeing him flustered, but better not to take chances. "Sydney!"

"She's on the phone, doesn't want to be disturbed."

Nigel licked his own lips and tried to figure a way around his predicament. He'd already been accosted by a few of the younger students who were carrying that bloody flower with them, and now this. Ordinarily he wouldn't mind being kissed by so many pretty birds, but after the fourth time, since arriving at the college, he was getting a little tired of it. He'd actually choose to get across campus from the outside, knowing it was too cold for most of the kids to follow.

He liked that American women were direct in what they wanted, a welcome change from the women he'd dated in London, but there was a difference between being forward and being out-right brazen. Nigel did like a woman to have at least some sense of propriety, not like that Amazon accountant he'd encountered a few months ago. He'd barely gotten away from her with his virtue intact. Thank God for the UPS man.

Claudia's phone rang and she considered ignoring it, but by the third ring she growled and stretched across the desk to grab it, giving Nigel the opening he needed. He darted in and around, just out of her reach, and hurried for Sydney's office.

Sydney glanced up from her conversation, as Nigel barged in and slammed the door shut behind him, blocking it with his body and holding his lap top case in front of him, protectively.

"Sorry, Syd-but she's gone mad!"

"Who?"

"Claudia! She's got that bloody stuff up everywhere, Sydney!"

Sydney smiled. "Sorry, Jenny, I'll call you later; I have to go rescue my assistant from the feral intentions of my secretary." She laughed and hung up; ignoring Nigel's pouting expression.

"It's not funny!"

Sydney rolled her chair back and stood up, moving to the door and inhaling the fresh winter air that lingered on her assistant. "You're such a coward, Nigel"

"I am not!"

Sydney glanced out the window of the office and stared at the ceiling. "Gotta give her credit, Nigel, at least she's determined."

"I don't have to give her anything, Sydney, least of all me!"

"So, just give her a kiss, she'll be happy and leave you alone."

Nigel huffed and waved his hands, agitated. "I can't just go around kissing women for the fun of it." He didn't mention his earlier run-ins with the female students, no sense giving Sydney any extra ammunition; she loved to tease him

"It never stopped you before, Nigel. You're a man, aren't you?"

He rolled his eyes as she proved his point. "Of course! Of course I'm a man, but...Syd please? Even if I did let her kiss me, she'd have me naked by the time we finished!"

"What's the downside?"

He flushed and lowered his gaze. "Sydney! Please!"

Sydney took pity on him and pulled open the door. "Claudia! Get that crap off my ceiling; this is an office, not a greenhouse."

"But it's Christmas!" Claudia insisted, narrowing her eyes on Nigel, cowering behind Sydney. "You guys have no holiday spirit."

"Look at it this way; if any other women walk in here, they'll have the right to ravage Nigel, too."

Claudia obviously hadn't thought of that, and, after a moment of consideration, finally started to climb the ladder to remove the mistletoe.

Nigel sighed and dropped into one of the chairs, relieved. "Thank you."

Sydney closed the door, and leaned against it, folding her arms across her chest, amused. "You're welcome."

He offered her a sheepish grin as she walked around to her chair and dropped into it. "I can't believe how slow it's been," he said, setting his laptop by his feet and pulling off his scarf. "It's been… what, almost three weeks now, and we haven't been asked to find one relic?"

Sydney grinned and propped her boots up on the desk. "Missing the hunt, Nigel?" It was still a few days to Christmas so the campus would be closed down tomorrow, and they were getting some extra work done. She was in no hurry to go away this close to the holidays.

"Not one little bit," he replied, appropriately, and then shrugged. "Well, maybe. I suppose my body isn't used to just one climate anymore."

"Well, enjoy it while it lasts, we'll be busy in the New Year." She twirled the globe on her desk, absently.

Nigel nodded and rose to stand by the windows she had been looking through earlier. "We don't get much snow in England."

Sydney detected a note of sadness in his voice and turned to stare at him. Nigel had a very expressive face, she could usually tell what he was feeling, especially when he was anxious or scared, but she had a harder time figuring out what he was thinking. He was so intelligent, his mind always working, like a British Einstein. He buried himself in books of past civilizations, spoke several modern and ancient languages, and was a wealth of information when it came to research.

All of that, and she realized that she didn't know what Nigel did for fun, did he even have any interests outside of books and relics? She was always dragging him from one place to another, but what did he do when they weren't on a hunt? She had a few friends, well several really, most of them she just didn't keep in contact with, because they were scattered around the world. She had a couple here at home that she'd talk to now and then, but she wondered if Nigel had made any friends in the time that he had been working for her.

She realized that although Nigel probably knew more about her, about her past loves, her friends, her childhood, she knew hardly anything about him and that he rarely discussed his personal life, past or present, outside of a handful of dates that never seemed to carry over into a longer relationship. What little she did know was mostly by accident, snippets he would mention from time to time, but never really elaborated on, such as his father telling him the story of St. Gabriel and that he had been to boarding school.

"What are your plans for the holidays?" she asked, the silence that had grown between them unnerving her.

Nigel shrugged.

"Are you going back to London?"

"My folks died several years ago, Syd, and you already know how famously Preston and I get on."

She winced; she'd forgotten that Nigel had no family; at least none close to him. Her own mother had died when she was young, but she'd always had her father and her younger sister to count on for support. Who did Nigel have? When they had gone to London to help Nigel's brother Preston look for a relic, she had learned that Nigel played the piano and had left behind 'the love of his life'. That and of course the fact that Preston loved to torment his younger brother, no doubt resulting in a hard time for Nigel as a child. She wondered if an unhappy childhood was the reason he didn't talk about his family.

She understood how hard it was for him to be around his older brother, she found it a little difficult herself because Preston was great at pushing Nigel's buttons and trying to overshadow him. This got her wondering what he had done for the last two holidays that he had been in the States. She had not even thought to ask; just wished him a good holiday as they went their separate ways a few days before Christmas, and then meeting up for a hunt a day or two after New Year's. Had Nigel spent them alone or with someone?

"So, what are your plans then?" she asked. "Will Cate be flying in?"

"Cate and I have decided that…we're not compatible," he stated quietly.

Actually, Cate had decided by not returning his calls the last several weeks. He knew that she was avoiding him and suspected the reason was because he wasn't man enough for her. She was a formidable woman, like Sydney, and they were both attracted to strong, virile men, who had little or no doubts about their abilities. He may not be as worldly as those men, but he wasn't stupid either, he knew that Cate had reservations about him, as many women seemed to have had in the past.

He tried to be like some of those other men, God knew he had enough material to use as reference from all the ex-lovers of Sydney's they kept running into, but when he tried being someone other than himself, he just ended up looking like an idiot. Besides, he felt nothing but contempt for men like Dallas and François, they were arrogant, self centered, and frankly he couldn't see what Sydney saw in them. It still hurt that Cate couldn't like him for the man he was. He'd had allowed himself to hope that it would work out, because she had been the one to pursue him, she had made the first move, and he had fallen hard for her.

Sydney watched Nigel quietly, knowing from the tightness of his face that he was in turmoil and wished he would just talk to her. "I'm sorry to hear that, Nigel," she said, sincerely. In all honesty, she found her assistant's on again off again relationship with Cate disturbing, but only because she felt the agent was stringing Nigel along and she worried that he was getting serious. She was sorry that the ending of the relationship hurt her friend. "So…what will you do then?"

Nigel glanced at her, puzzled. "About what?"

"For the holidays."

"Oh. Well I have a few new books I plan to read."

Sydney shook her head, him and his books. That was his answer for everything.

He suddenly turned from the window and moved to the door, checking Claudia's progress. She had removed all the mistletoe, except from the doorway into the office, her expression resigned.

Sydney caught just the slightest spark of sadness in his eyes as he turned away from the door and moved to collect his laptop case. Why was he sad? Was it Cate, or was he thinking about his parents? Was he feeling lonely? Maybe he just needed some cheering up? Yes, a round at the local bar would get him in a better mood, or better yet, since he could not hold his liquor, she'd take him to their favorite Thai restaurant; he'd enjoy that.

"Nigel," She dropped her feet off the desk and then almost immediately changed her mind about what she was going to say when he turned his suspiciously sad eyes towards her. Maybe it was better if she didn't know. It could be something deep, something that…well, could embarrass them both. "You…you should be okay now. I better get going or I'll be late for my last day of class."

"Right," Nigel nodded and opened the door all the way, allowing her to precede him through to the outer office. "At least for the students, we'll be here a couple of days yet grading their exams."

She patted his shoulder as he grabbed her briefcase from behind her office door and handed it to her; something she'd almost forgotten. "We'll stay late tonight and get it done so we only have to come in for a couple of hours tomorrow."

"Just what I wanted to hear," he pretended to groan. "Another late night at the office."

Sydney smiled, let her hand stay on his shoulder long enough to give him a supportive squeeze, and then headed out.

Nigel returned to his desk, after a quick look at Claudia, who was now completely ignoring him as she pretended to look busy on the computer. He knew she was probably just on a chat line again, instead of doing any real work, but he decided not to get after her about it. He had enough of his own work to do. He hooked his scarf and coat on the rack behind him set his laptop under the desk

He'd only just started in on the stack of exams from yesterday, when a familiar shadow fell across him. He pushed his glasses a little further down his nose and peered up at Claudia, suspiciously. "What now?" he demanded, more harshly than he had intended.

He'd only had about two hours sleep last night and was doing his best not to let his irritability show, but he was finding the blond more annoying than usual.

"Even though you're a first rate Grinch," she began haughtily. "And you ruined all my fun." She tossed the brightly colored gift on Nigel's desk. "Here."

Nigel glanced at the box, up at her, and then returned to his grading.

"Nigel!"

"What?"

"Aren't you forgetting something?"

He looked up at her, forcing himself to keep a straight face at the sight of her arms folded petulantly across her chest. He looked at the gift again, and then returned to his work. "Thank you, Claudia."

Claudia stamped her foot. Nigel ignored her. She kicked his desk and startled him into raising his gaze again.

"Nigel!"

"Claudia!"

"Where's mine?"

Nigel sighed and settled back in his chair, pulling off his glasses; the picture of innocence. "You're what, Claudia?"

"My gift!"

"You're gift? What makes you think I got you anything?"

"Because it's Christmas, dummy."

Nigel wagged his finger at her, naughtily. "Ah, but you see, insulting the person you're expecting presents from doesn't get you anything, Claudia. You've been especially nasty to me this year; do you really think that you deserve a gift?"

Claudia had to consider that one, but it only took her a moment before she realized that he was teasing her. Her lips widened in a predatory smile as she started to walk around the desk toward him. "Nigel, you know I can make you give it to me."

Nigel pushed back on his chair, until he hit the wall behind him, and tried to ward her of with his hands. He'd be only too happy to 'give it to her' only he'd probably get arrested. "Now, Claudia, that's not very much in keeping with the Christmas spirit, you know, joy to the world, good will toward MEN!" He released an embarrassingly non-masculine squeal when she advanced and placed her knee between his legs on the chair, causing him to scoot further back in his seat to avoid possible damage.

Claudia continued to smile and pinned him with her arms on either side of the chair, simultaneously giving him an eyeful of her cleavage. "Where's my gift, Nigel?"

Nigel's eyes darted away from her bodice and rose to her face. He really hated that smile on her, it made him feel that he should be carrying a wooden cross and wearing a necklace of garlic; only Claudia didn't suck the blood from you, just your patience and good will. "Claudia, behave yourself!"

Claudia cracked her knuckles and wiggled her fingers suggestively, causing Nigel to flinch; she knew he was seriously ticklish. "Last chance, honeybun."

Nigel caved. "Under my desk!"

Claudia leapt up and dove for the package, before quickly tearing into it. Nigel remained where he was, watching her. Claudia pulled back the tissue paper and gasped. "My dress!" She pulled it out of the box and held it up to her body; it was the exact dress that she had tried to blackmail him into buying for her in Paris several months ago. "You bought me my dress?" She turned to him, shocked, her smile wobbling. "You said you couldn't afford it, you said it would cost you a month's pay."

"Yes, well, even though you don't deserve it for what you tried to do to me, I…well I have a friend in Paris and I managed to get some of the cost knocked off." He'd also made the decision to buy the dress after Claudia's brush with death, in Rome; she really did mean an awful lot to him.

Claudia dropped the dress back into the box and lunged for him. Nigel was up and out of the chair, trying to avoid her attempt to embrace him.

"Now, don't get all emotional!"

Claudia laughed and finally managed to get through his defenses to throw her arms around his neck and plant a big kiss on his mouth. Nigel froze, stunned. She pulled back and walked her fingers up his chest, suggestively before leaning in and tugging on his earlobe with her teeth. "Wanna see how emotional I can be, honeybun?"

Nigel flushed and backed up, disentangling himself and pulling on the ear she'd licked. "Oh certainly yes, the highlight of my day would be wrestling a bubbly blond octopus, I think not."

Claudia grinned and grabbed up her dress and the box, bringing it over to her desk. "Maybe that's your problem," she suggested, folding the dress back into the box, lovingly. "You never take women up on their offers and that's why you're always losing out."

Nigel smirked, she had no idea how many offers he had taken up, or how many he had turned down. "Well, we can't all be Miss Popularity, now can we?"

She turned and smiled at him. "Are you jealous, Nigel?"

"Certainly not."

Claudia settled back at her desk. "Because, you know, I'd be happy to give you some pointers to help you get a date."

"Oh my yes, what a thrill that would be, advice from the, Duchess of Ostentation. I can hardly wait."

Claudia frowned, did he just insult her? She hated it when he used those ten-dollar words. "I'm gonna look that up and you'd better hope it means something nice, Nigel Bailey."

"Well, if you are going to the trouble of opening a book, Claudia," Nigel continued, settling back on his desk with his glasses back on his nose. "Best have someone with you, who can explain the big words."

"Are you saying I'm stupid?"

Heaven forbid, Nigel thought. Claudia? Stupid, what an exotic concept. The girl should have a neon sign tattooed on her forehead that read 'Vacancy-Space For Rent.' "Look it up and see, Claudia."

Claudia grabbed up her little dictionary and started flipping through the pages furiously. Osmosis, osprey, ostensible…ostentation! She gasped and shot Nigel a look that would freeze meat. "You nasty little hobbit! You are calling me stupid!"

Hobbit! That was hitting below the belt. "No, I called you a showoff, not stupid, there is a difference. I only implied you were stupid, but I never said it."

Claudia threw the tiny book at him and Nigel dodged it, easily. "It's the same thing!"

Nigel grinned. "So it is."

She leered at him. "At least I don't go home alone every night to a dull, boring apartment filled with dull boring books."

That hurt, but Nigel let it roll off his back, as it was also mostly true. "I don't imagine waking up in a strange place every morning and not remembering how I got there is something to brag about, Claudia."

Claudia flushed. "Now you're saying I'm easy?"

Nigel put his hands up in marker of Peace; he hadn't meant that the way it had sounded. He may think that sometimes about her, but he would never say it out right. "I just meant you're especially… social, Claudia."

"You know what your problem is, Nigel Bailey, you need to get laid so badly that it's turned your brain to goo."

"Oh, that's articulate, to goo, really-are we talking osmosis, a chemical reaction, or some sort of gypsy magic, here?"

"Hey, hey!" Sydney interrupted entering the office and finding her two assistants facing off, again. "What is wrong with you two, I can hear you in the hall?"

"He called me stupid!" Claudia exclaimed.

"She called me a bloody hobbit!"

"Oh, my mistake, a hobbit is MUCH taller."

"Oh that's rich coming from a girl whose natural response to everything is 'Oh my ghad!"

Sydney bit her lip hard to keep from laughing; Nigel really could mimic Claudia well when he said that. "Okay, that's enough, both of you." She didn't want this to go any further and risk someone really getting hurt feelings. "It's Christmas, forgive and forget, come on."

Nigel folded his arms and sat back in his chair, stubbornly. Claudia had dropped into her own chair and turned away from them. Sydney sighed.

"Nigel?" she prompted.

"What?"

"Don't you have something to say to Claudia?"

"Why do I have to go first?"

"Because you're a gentleman, Nigel."

Nigel huffed, he was tired of being the one to eat crow, and Claudia had gotten seriously personal with him this time. Hobbit indeed. "I've retired my Chivalry license." He wagged his finger at Claudia. "She'd try the patience of a saint, Sydney! I won't apologize for her insulting me. She's entirely too quick to judge and she never considers the consequences of what her big mouth and dull mind will cause her."

Sydney gasped. "Nigel!" That wasn't like him at all. She glanced at Claudia, who had turned at his words, tears in her eyes. She grabbed up her dress and dropped it on his desk.

"Keep your stupid gift, you creep!"

Nigel was appalled when Claudia ran from the office, and he realized that he had crossed the line. It wasn't her fault that he hated this time of the year. "I didn't…" He glanced at Sydney, who was looking both sympathetic and disappointed. "Oh bloody hell!" Nigel vaulted over his desk and ran after the blonde.

He caught up with her in the hallway. "Claudia! Claudia, stop. I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

Claudia pushed him away and kept walking. "Go to hell, Nigel, Bailey!" She had made it up two flights of stairs, when Nigel caught up to her again. "Really, Claudia, please! I never meant any of that. I'm just an old grump, please forgive me?"

Claudia wiped at the tears on her face and tried to get past him, but he blocked her way whenever she moved. She turned and headed back down, only to him jump over the stairwell separator to land two steps below her; his acrobatic ability had increased tenfold since meeting Sydney and having to learn to dodge gunmen, bullets and explosions.

"You know I think you're lovely and you have…moments of sheer brilliance at times. Please don't pay any attention to me. We spar all the time, you never get upset."

Claudia stared down at him and sniffed. "Really? You think I'm lovely?"

"I think you're beautiful, of course I do, look at you." He took a chance and pulled her back to the main landing and away from the traffic of students headed downstairs, glancing at them curiously. "I'm so very sorry. I never meant to hurt your feelings." He caressed her cheek and brushed away another of her tears. "Don't cry, I can't stand it. You never cry; you're always so brave and headstrong, like Sydney."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, just like her. Don't disappoint me by making me think my silly words hurt you, come on, you're better than that, right?"

Claudia sniffed and offered him a small smile. "Yeah."

"There's my honey bun," he teased, returning her smile and wiping the tear from her other cheek. "We're okay, right? Am I forgiven?"

Claudia nodded. "I'm sorry I called you a hobbit."

"I'm sorry I implied you were…anything but wonderful," Nigel offered, better not tempt fate by reminding her of what he had said. "You…Claudia you know how I feel about you, I couldn't stand it if you were truly angry with me."

Claudia grinned and swayed a little, girlishly. "Yeah, you've got a crush on me."

Nigel sighed and gritted his teeth. "I'm…fond of you, in a-a brotherly sort of way." He realized that she was teasing him again. "I thought we'd declared a truce and you're already trying to frustrate me!"

"I can't help it, it's so easy." Claudia giggled and leaned in to kiss him. "I love my dress."

Nigel, startled by the kiss, now smiled again. "I'm glad." He indicated the path from where they had come. "Shall we return, before Sydney comes a-hunting and sends us to our rooms without any supper?"

Claudia laughed and hooked her arm through his as they headed back towards Ancient Studies.

Sydney stepped out of her office at the sound of their return, watched in relief as Claudia retrieved her gift from Nigel's desk and smiled at him as she walked past. She carefully folded it and replaced it in the box, before setting it beside her desk. She settled in her chair and went back to her typing.

Nigel pursed his lips and shook his head. She was the most infuriating, exasperating woman on the planet…and he really did love her to death. He turned and caught Sydney staring at him.

"What?"

"Everything okay?"

He settled to his chair. "Fine," he assured, picking up his pen and starting once again on the exams. "We've established that I'm an insensitive idiot and Claudia is a lot like you, now, may I get back to work, please? I really don't want to have to stay too late tonight."

Sydney walked over and squeezed his shoulder, bending down to whisper in his ear. "You really are a good man, Nigel."

Nigel flushed and waved her away, distractedly. "Yes, yes, good, good."

Sydney straightened and returned to her office.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Sydney awoke feeling refreshed and relaxed. She stretched, lazily, trying to remember how she had gotten home, and then realized she still had her clothes on. She frowned and turned her head, spying Nigel, asleep beside her. She barely remembered getting in the cab and little else. He must have gotten them the rest of the way home and had been too tired to leave.

"Oh, Nigel," she smiled, carefully sitting up and pulling the comforter away from her, before rising from the bed. She waited to see if he would wake, and when he didn't she tiptoed to the bathroom. She pulled off her wrinkled clothing, stepped under the hot spray of the shower, and sighed as the pulsating water and heat melted away the remainder of her tension. She must have really needed that sleep, and the dreams she had, whew! It's a wonder her smoke detector hadn't gone off. They felt so real, one in particular remained on her mind, she was sure she could feel the heat of…She shook her head clear and grabbed her shampoo.

Nigel was having one of those dreams that mirrored reality, where he and Sydney were on a hunt and running away from men that were trying to kill them. His cell phone rang as they darted into the shade of some heavy foliage, trying to lose their assailants. He grabbed the phone out of his pocket, afraid the ringing would give away their hiding place, but when he pulled it open and whispered hello, the phone continued to ring. The men found them, one of them grabbed Nigel up by the collar and tossed him into a tree. He landed with a thump as Sydney prevented a second attack. Nigel's phone was still ringing and he started crawling around the forest floor to find it.

He awoke with a start and was shocked to find himself on the floor, by Sydney's side of the bed, trying to answer one of her black pumps. He tossed it aside and reached up for the phone on her bedside table. "Hello?"

"Hello, who's this?" a female voice demanded.

"Nigel Bailey, who's this?"

"I'm calling for Sydney Fox. Do I have a wrong number?"

It took Nigel a few minutes to process her question because he was still half asleep. He glanced around the bedroom, realized that it wasn't his own and found it mildly interesting that Sydney's taste were decidedly feminine, considering what she did for a living. "Um…hang on, I'm sure she's around somewhere." He used the bed to pull himself up off the floor and immediately registered the sound of water running behind the closed door to the left. "Syd?"

He moved reluctantly towards the bathroom, knocked on the door, then leaned his head against it. He was still so tired! Feeling his face start to slip down the door, he realized he had started to doze and knocked again, harder. "Syd." His voice had a decided whine to it and he smacked himself awake. "Sydney, phone for you!"

"Door's open."

He grimaced, but opened the door and held the phone inside, the rest of him remaining outside.

I can't reach it from there! Get in here! You're letting all the steam escape."

Nigel muttered something under his breath, stepped in; his eyes lowered discretely and held the receiver out to her.

Sydney poked her head out, a bit more of her body than necessary, as she reached for the phone and tried not to grin at the state of his hair, or his sleep-eyed expression. "Thanks. Sorry if it woke you, go back to sleep."

He waved his hands, grumbled something about shoes ringing so early in the morning and went out.

Sydney switched off the shower, wrapped a towel around her body, and held the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Who the hell was that delicious sounding man and why is he answering your phone this hour of the morning?"

"Jodi!" Sydney laughed at her friend's curiosity. "How are you? I haven't heard from you in...God what's it been?"

"Three years!" Jodi accused, also laughing. "You ungrateful wretch, you forgot about me!"

"No, I didn't!" Sydney denied, knowing that she had. She was terrible for keeping up with her old friends; her classes and the hunts took up so much of her time, actual people tended to slip her mind. "I've just been horribly busy."

"Busy making babies with that delicious sounding man?"

"NO!" Sydney was appalled to feel her face grow warm. "That was Nigel, my assistant."

"I thought your assistant's name was Roger?"

Sydney grimaced. "No, that was the one before. Roger isn't with me anymore."

"Had a spat did you?"

"Something like that, yes."

"Thank God, I hated that asshole! So when did you get the new guy? Where did you get him and does he come in pairs?"

Sydney paused when she realized she actually had to think about when she had hired Nigel, it seemed like they'd been together forever already. "A little over two years now," she replied with a grin. "London and no, he's one-of-a-kind."

"I see. And your one-of-a-kind Englishman is at your place this early because…"

"We worked late last night getting exams done and he crashed at my place."

"Does he do that often?"

"Sometimes and…" She heard Jodi's giggle. "We're _just_ friends." Sydney had learned her lesson the hard way with Roger, she wouldn't make the same mistake with Nigel; he was too important to her.

"Oh? Then honey send him over to me. I could use me a sleepover friend and I'd know just what to do with him. Is he as cute as he sounds?"

Sydney considered the question. "Even better," she admitted, honestly.

"Well, that, that then. You guys have to come for dinner then."

Sydney laughed again. "You want us to fly to New Zealand for dinner?"

"Oh no! I've moved from there last year. I'm here now."

"Here? You're in Massachusetts?"

"Yes, in Watford, about an hour away from that little collage of yours. So see, you don't have an excuse. Come to dinner and bring your assistant."

"Well, I'll ask him, but he may already have plans. Listen, can I call you back later, I need to get some clothes on."

"I thought you said you two were just friends?"

"I was in the shower, you idiot," Sydney grinned. "Gotta go, bye." She hung up and continued to dry off.

Wrapping a towel turban style around her hair, she stepped back into the bedroom, taking the phone with her. Nigel was not in bed, but she could smell fresh coffee brewing downstairs. She grinned and shook her head. He was so damned good at taking care of her and she sometimes took him for granted. Reaching into to her closet she pulled out a pair of blue jeans, slid into them, then donned a white cardigan over a black scoop neck shirt. Rather than dry her hair, she pulled it back into a braid, and then headed downstairs.

She was startled at the sound of a quiet moan from the living area, and as she walked around to the sofa she spotted Nigel stretched out on it, asleep.

"No," he pleaded. "Please, God-Mother! Father!" He bolted upwards, startling Sydney, but he was still asleep. "Help me! Someone, please help me!"

"Nigel." Sydney gripped his shoulders, felt him flinch in surprise, but he did not wake. "You're having a nightmare, Nigel."

She was appalled when he released a strangled sob and a single tear slipped escaped from his closed eyelid and slid down his cheek. She froze. Never, in all the time she had known him, had she ever seen Nigel cry. Well, except for that time Preston had flaunted Nigel's old girlfriend, Amanda, in front of his little brother, but then Nigel looked more like he was apt to be sick, rather than burst into tears. As she stared at him now, her heart flipped inside her chest at his vulnerability.

"Mum!" he whispered in a voice so agonized that Sydney felt her heart tear in half. "Please…Don't leave me."

Unsure what else to do, she knelt and folded him, awkwardly into her arms. "There, there," she murmured. "It's okay. You're okay."

His arms slid around her with the strength of a frightened child, hard, crushing, desperate. "Get me out," he croaked. "I can't get out! Oh please, please get me out!"

Sydney closed her eyes and rocked him as she ran a hand down his back and another through his hair in an attempt to soothe. "You're out. You're safe, Nigel, I promise." She held him as hard as he held her and continued to offer what words of comfort she could.

Nigel finally seemed to settle with her touch, his breathing calmed, his tears stopped, and after a few minutes his body became lax. Sydney knew the nightmare had passed at that he'd fallen into a deeper, dreamless sleep. Carefully, she eased him back against the sofa cushions, surprised to find her own hands trembled slightly. She'd been shaken, her stomach knotted from the terror, the unimaginable anguish she had heard in her friend's voice.

They had faced ancient assassins, guerrilla soldiers, demonic sacrifice and supernatural powers phenomenon beyond anything either of them had ever imagined, but she had never felt so out of her depth, so… gutted as she has watching Nigel twist and turn in torment. The closest that she could compare it to was when Tslarov had told her he was dead, but even then, even that had not prepared her for seeing her friend in such emotional agony.

Shaking her head, she started to rise and heard him moan again.

"Stay."

Unsure if he was finally awake or passing into another nightmare she knelt again and fell back on her father's method for soothing, something she remembered he did when she'd had a nightmare as a child. She gently ran her fingers across his brow. "It's okay. You're safe."

"Love you."

Sydney blinked and her fingers stilled.

"Mum…Love you."

Releasing a quiet breath, he was still dreaming. He hadn't been talking to her. She smiled, sadly and caressed his forehead again. "Mum loves you back," she whispered

She waited to make sure Nigel's outburst would not be repeated, and then pulled the afghan her grandmother had made off the back of the sofa to cover the sleeping Englishman. She tiptoed across the living room and entered the kitchen, now desperate for coffee. It was hard to know for sure what his dream had been about, obviously it had to do with his parents, but he sounded so helpless and terrified, she wondered if some of it might not have involved a reenactment of one of their more dangerous hunts.

She brewed a full pit of coffee, rather than go for the instant she usually grabbed in the mornings, and stewed over the idea that working with her may be giving him nightmares. He'd been green in the beginning, naive and reluctant, to say the least, to jump into the fray on a hunt. But, he'd gotten passed that, and from the start he'd always followed her, always did as she asked, so reluctance or not, his courage stood for itself.

Pouring a full mug of coffee, she turned and peered through the open area of the breakfast bar to confirm he was still asleep. She allowed her gaze to linger on his face. He had a beautiful face, young, vibrant, pretty. She smiled thinking of all the women who enjoyed looking at that face, herself included. She'd seen Nigel in many expressions, many states of emotion, but never anything like what she's just witnessed.

Did he have nightmares often? She couldn't ever remember him having them on a hunt, not the few times that they'd had to share accommodation anyway, but she couldn't say for the times they slept in separate rooms. It bothered her, suddenly, that she hadn't known this about him, and that, other than the general information that his parent's were dead, she knew nothing of the how, why or when. He had never discussed it, and she had never asked. She told herself it was because she didn't want to bring up bad memories, but knew it was more she didn't want to be reminded of her own mother's death. She hadn't asked to save herself pain, not out of saving Nigel from his. What sort of friend did that make her really?

She sighed, shook her head and decided she was probably making more of it than it was. They were fine as they were, they'd made it this far, hadn't they? Things were good between them, familiar and comfortable. Yes, they were fine.

She'd make breakfast, she decided, and let him get some more sleep, hopefully nightmare free. She topped off her mug with more coffee and peered into her refrigerator, happy she'd had the forethought, for a change, to get groceries yesterday. Yes, a hearty homemade breakfast was what she'd do, what she _could_ do for him. She wasn't a gourmet like the people at that French Cooking School they had once entered to find the Chalice of Truth, but she could manage a decent menu of scrambled eggs and sausages.

Sydney walked over to wake Nigel once her little feast was ready, determined to be cheerful for his sake.

"Hey, sleepy head, gonna sleep the day away?"

Nigel moaned and turned away from her.

Sydney leaning over him. "Come on, lazy bones. I've got food waiting."

That seemed to peak his interest and he opened one eye. "Food?"

"Eggs, sausage, and toast, with coffee."

"Hmmm…" Nigel closed his eye again, contemplating. "Tea?"

Tea? She scowled. He always drank coffee in the morning. "I can make tea," she offered.

He started to smile, and then borrowed further under the afghan. "I'm really tired, Syd."

She swatted him on the rump. "Final offer or it goes in the recycler."

"Fine!" Nigel sighed and tossed his cover back, to sit up, his stomach always won out over the rest of him. "I'm coming."

Sydney smiled as he ran his hands through his tousled hair, before dropping his face into his hands, he was so adorable when he first woke up. She blinked. When had she started thinking of Nigel as adorable?

"Come on then."

She headed back to the kitchen to set her small dinette, and, as she expected watched him toddle upstairs to do get himself in order. Filling the kettle, she plugged it in, then dropped four slices of toast in the toaster. When Nigel came down the stairs, looking a little more alert and presentable, his hair no longer standing up from his head, his eyes were still sleepy but open.

"What would you like on your toast?" Sydney asked as he entered the kitchen. "I have peanut butter, strawberry preserves and…marmalade, I think." She pulled the jar of marmalade out of the refrigerator, noticed something green growing over it and tossed it in the garbage. "Forget the marmalade."

"Just butter or margarine is fine," he assured. "Can I help?"

"Nope." Sydney finished buttering their toast and brought it and their plates to the table. "Have a seat and dig in."

Nigel settled at the small table and inhaled, it smelled delicious. He thanked Sydney when she handed him his tea, before she settled opposite him with her cup of coffee. "This is great, Syd, thank you."

"Least I could do for you getting us home last night."

"Well, one of us anyway," he smirked as he dropped a spoonful of sugar into his tea and stirred it, leaving out the milk.

"When did you start drinking tea in the mornings?" she asked, curious.

He paused and looked at her over the rim of the cup. "Always."

"I've only ever seen you drink coffee."

Nigel swallowed a mouthful of tea and set his mug down, shrugged. "I don't mind coffee," he admitted. "I'll get one if I'm bringing you one, or I'll drink it if it's there, but I usually have tea when I can." A quick grin. "I am English after all."

What else didn't she know about him? "Oh yeah. I keep forgetting."

He smirked at her and scooped up a forkful of eggs.

"Well, thanks for getting us home," she said, wondering why she suddenly felt uncomfortable with the silence between them; it had never bothered her before. Or maybe she just wanted to keep him talking and see what else she could learn about him. She did know that it took him a while to wake up and he wasn't normally a talker in the mornings.

He nodded and sliced off a piece of sausage, proving her theory.

"I can't believe I slept through the whole thing," she said, lathering her toast with the Strawberry preserves. "How did you get me upstairs to bed?"

Nigel's mouth answered before his brain could warn of the repercussions. "I carried you."

"Carried me?" Sydney gaped at him and almost dropped the knife she was holding. "Upstairs?" Nigel had only a few moments where he'd had to lift her in the past and it had not been easy for him in the least. They were almost matched in height and weight.

"It was that, or leave you to sleep on the floor," he defended quickly.

"Yes, but…I can't believe…I didn't think you could lift me, Nigel."

Nigel took a bite of his eggs. "I'm stronger than I look." Please don't ask about the rest, he pleaded silently. He really didn't want to tell Sydney about their compromising position from last night.

"Well, I appreciate it, Nigel. Thanks."

He shrugged again and continued eating. "It's what I do."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"You said something, what was it?"

"I said…the food is good."

Sydney knew he was lying, but she let it slide, for now. They ate in silence for the remainder of the meal, and then Nigel offered to do the dishes. "No, that's okay, I have a dishwasher," she assured. "Why don't you call us a cab and we'll go pick up my car at the university?"

Nigel rose to search for the mobile handset, almost jumping out of his skin when it rang, just before he picked it up. "H…hello? Yes, just a minute." He held it out to Sydney, who was laughing at his reaction. "I'm so glad I amuse you."

She accepted the phone. "Hello?" She was struggling to control her laughter as Nigel cast her wounded looks and muttered under his breath as he placed the dishes in the dishwasher. "Hey, Jodi. Yes I have my clothes on now. Yes, he's still here." Sydney grinned at Nigel who glanced back at her and scowled. "Well, I don't know, let me ask him." She put the phone against her chest. "My friend Jodi would like us to come for dinner, are you free?"

Nigel scowled at the snobbish British accent she used on her last few words, even though he thought it was a fair imitation. "Are you mad?" he asked her in the exact same tone, his accent much more genuine.

"Seriously, she wants us to come. What do you think?"

"I don't even know her, Syd."

"Sure you do, she's talked to you twice already and is hot for the sound of your voice."

Nigel flushed. "That's not indicative to getting me to say yes!"

Sydney laughed again and spoke into the phone. "We'll be there, what time? Sounds great. What's your new address?" She paused and scrambled for a pieced of notepaper and a pen. "Okay I'm ready. Got it. Okay, see you then."

Nigel closed the dishwasher and rinsed his hands at the sink, drying them on the dish towel, as Sydney ended the call.

"She thinks you sound adorable."

Nigel made a face. "Oh bully." He walked over and held his hand out for the phone. "I'll call that cab, then, shall I?"

Sydney nodded still grinning.

The cab picked them up a few minutes later, dropped them at the university, and then Sydney drove Nigel home. He always took transit or a cab to work and didn't own a car. He still hadn't said one way of the other if he was going to attend the dinner and she had to force herself not to push. She was surprised top find that she'd really wanted him to come, and that was odd. She'd never asked him to have dinner with any of her other friends before

. She pulled up to his building and he opened the door.

"So, what time is this dinner you're dragging me to?"

Sydney was startled by the little leap against her chest. What the hell was wrong with her? "Around six, but she lives in Whatford, so we'll have to leave around five to get there."

Nigel nodded and climbed out of the car, rubbing his chin which had just barely started to show a five o'clock shadow. "Okay, I'll see you at five then."

Sydney swallowed her disappointment, then wondered why she was disappointed. "Sure."

He started to close the door and she called out to him. He leaned in again. "Yeah?"

"Um…want to check out the ice sculptures in the square, or something? I mean…later this afternoon, before we go to dinner?"

His surprise was obvious, but his reply showed pleasure. "Sure, Syd. What time?"

"One?"

"Okay, I'll be ready."

Sydney smiled for real and Nigel closed the door. She waited until he went inside, before driving off.

They visited the square and appraised the festival sculptures, then Sydney suggested a movie, since they were right next to the theatre. They argued for a few minutes over a comedy or an action film, then Nigel let Sydney have her way, as usual, and they purchased tickets to the action film. They found seats in the back, noticing that there was hardly anyone else in the theatre this early and Nigel set the popcorn Sydney had insisted they share on the floor between them; their drinks were in the cup holders attached to the seat.

He settled beside her, pulled off his jacket and slumped a little in the seat to get comfortable.

"Nigel?"

"Hmmm?"

"When was the last time you went to a movie? In the theatre I mean."

"Oh, God, I don't know, this year, for sure."

"Really?" Sydney frowned, that had once been his answer when she'd asked him when he had last had a date. "Why?"

"With our schedules?" He shot her a look of mild disbelief. "How much time do you think I have to go to a movie?"

Sydney sighed, they had been pretty busy the last several months, but she never stopped to think that Nigel's personal life might be suffering as much as hers. "Sorry."

"Whatever for?"

"Well, because you haven't had time to enjoy yourself. I hadn't realized…"

Nigel waved his hand at her. "Who said I wasn't enjoying myself?"

"Well, if you haven't had any personal time to…to date or anything."

"Well, no, but there isn't really…" He shrugged. "I haven't really been…dating lately anyway, so it's no great loss."

"Why haven't you been dating?"

He shrugged and wondered what in the hell had gotten her so inquisitive all of a sudden? She almost never asked about his personal life, beyond the standard, 'sleep well', or 'how is your day going'.

"I thought you were getting better at reading signals?"

He winced at stared at his hands, unwilling to admit that the only signals he was having trouble reading were the ones she was throwing him. He never knew what to make of Sydney half the time. Sometimes, he thought he'd see something more than friendship in her eyes, or in the way she smiled at him, but then it would be gone, replaced by _that_ look, the glare that confirmed they were only friends and he was crazy to consider anything else. He'd been wrong so many times before and he refused to make a fool of himself again.

"There are at least a dozen women at the university that would love to go out with you, Nigel," Sydney continued when he didn't respond.

Sure there were, he thought resigned. Once, sometimes twice, and then they realized how very boring he was and looked elsewhere for their entertainment. "Hmmm." he murmured unconvinced. "Dozens. Imagine."

Sydney scowled. "What about you and Cate? I thought you two…"

"I don't want to talk about Cate…"

But aren't you guys…"

"I care about Cate," Nigel stated, firmly, quietly. "But, I'm not really what she wants…in a man."

Sydney bristled. "What the hell does that mean? There's nothing wrong with you, you're great!" She wondered what Cate could have said or done to make him doubt his manhood. "Did she tell you that? If she did I'm going to kick her ass and…"

"Stop." Nigel held up his hand, closed his eyes and started to massage his temples. She was doing it again, saying things that made his heart turn over and caused him to read more into their relationship than there was. He wished she'd just stop. "Can we please get off the topic of my love life, or lack of one. I don't feel comfortable talking about it."

Sydney glanced at the screen and tried not to dwell on the idea he wasn't as comfortable with her as she was with him. She thought they could tell each other anything. "Sorry."

They were both silent for a while, and then the lights lowered and the previews started. Nigel nudged her with his elbow, his expression apologetic; it wasn't her fault he was an idiot. "Syd?" he whispered.

She looked sideways at him.

"I'm sorry."

"What for?"

"For being cranky, I don't mean to be."

She nudged him back. "Shut up and pass me the popcorn."

He smirked and retrieved the bucket, handing it to her.

In no time at all, the movie was over and they were headed to Watford. Sydney had changed into a more festive, green and black sweater with sparkles and Nigel wore his black slacks, and a smart green turtleneck. During the drive they discussed work, the movie they had just seen and some of their past adventures.

Nigel grew quiet the last twenty minutes of the drive and Sydney worried he was having second thoughts about the dinner.

"You okay?"

"Hmmm?" He glanced at her. "What, Syd?"

"You're so quiet, anything wrong?"

"Oh no, no. Just…admiring the scenery." He smiled. "It's beautiful out here, with the snow and everything. So quiet and white and pure; like a picture on a Christmas card."

Sydney returned his smile, noticed it did not quite reach his eyes. "Nigel Bailey, are you getting romantic on me?"

He shrugged and turned back to the window. There was no getting, he'd always been a romantic; he just never showed that side of himself to Sydney. What would be the point? "I think it's charming, that's all. Nothing wrong with appreciating it."

Sydney frowned, he sounded like she had insulted him, when he had to know she was only teasing. Something was definitely wrong with her friend. "I think you're charming, Nigel-and I do appreciate you."

Nigel glanced back at her, startled. " Uh…Thanks." What else could he say to that, really?

"Nigel, is there something bothering you?" She wanted to ask him about the nightmares he'd had, but was afraid of intruding.

He crossed his arms over his chest and turned back to the window; his answer was too fast to be true. "Not at all."

Sydney returned her attention to the road and tried not to be hurt by the fact that he had just lied to her. Usually she didn't press her concerns on Nigel, she always figured if he wanted her to know something he'd tell her, when he was ready, but she realized she'd spent the last two years waiting for him to be ready, to confide something…well something deeply personal about himself or how he was feeling, and he never had.

There had been the odd tidbit that came out during a hunt, but never anything substantial. Nothing real. He knew about her mother, about her ex boyfriend's, about Tom and Alan, the first man she had ever really loved. He'd met her father, met her friends, her enemies. He knew her greatest enemy, DaViega, and she'd told him of that dark day in her life.

As she considered it, she realized that, outside of work and knowing a few base facts, she didn't know anything special, anything truly personal about Nigel, with the exception of Amanda, and she found that out accidentally.

Add to that, his odd behavior over the last week and a half , along with his sullen mood after such a nice morning; something didn't add up. Plus, there were the nightmares, first at her office, then at her home. What the hell was going on with him, and how did she find out without seeming like a busy-body?

"It is nice out here," she said, trying to continue the conversation; she couldn't handle the sudden silence between them. "Do you know how old I was the first time I saw snow? Seven."

"Really?" Nigel glanced at her, his interest peaked.

"I was born in Hawaii, we don't get much snow there, and then when I traveled with my mother and father overseas, it was mostly places like China, Egypt, warm climates. I didn't see snow until I went to boarding school."

Nigel shuddered and turned back to the window.

Sydney frowned; she forgot that she wasn't supposed to say that word around him. How awful it must have been for him. She felt a momentary lift that she knew that at least, that piece of him, and realized she needed to stop dwelling on the rest. "Sorry, Nige."

He shrugged and continued to stare out the window.

"When was the first time you saw snow?"

"I don't remember."

"Do they get a lot of snow in London?"

"Sometimes."

"Did you wish for a white Christmas when you were a kid?"

"No."

Sydney ran a hand through her hair, this was going well; Nigel had turned monosyllabic; a sure sign something was wrong. Something warned her to let it drop, leave him be if he didn't want to talk, but something else urged her to keep going. She reached over to touch his arm, in a show of support, and he jumped.

"Sorry." She pulled away.

"For what?" Nigel asked, curious.

"Touching you."

He stared at her for a long moment, and then turned back to the window. "I don't mind you touching me, Syd."

She felt the warmth enter her cheeks and smiled, pleased. As shy as he was at times, as easy as it was to fluster him, he often said things that were too bold for even the most arrogant or confident men to admit; and he meant them sincerely. "Startling you, then."

Nigel shrugged and continued his vigil.

Sydney barely contained her growl of frustration. "Nigel! Talk to me."

"About what?"

"About…anything! You're never this quiet."

"Are you saying I'm a chatterbox?"

"Well…no, but you can usually hold a conversation." Her gaze softened as she realized that was one of the things she liked most about her assistant; he could keep up with her on any subject and still make the conversations interesting. "Something is bothering you, I can tell. I thought we were friends?"

"We are friends, Syd," Nigel insisted, suddenly adamant that she not think otherwise. "You're…there is no one I am closer to than you, you must realize that?"

Sydney felt the same way, despite her recent doubts, but she was warmed by his admission just the same. "Likewise." She held his gaze for as long as she dared, assuring that he understood how truly she felt their friendship, before returning her attention to the road.

Nigel was the first to break the silence this time. "I'm sorry if I seem…cross, Sydney. I don't mean to be." He shrugged and stared at his hands. "I…I haven't been sleeping well, lately."

Sydney had already witnessed that much. "Why?"

"Oh…I don't know," he dismissed. "Don't you ever have nights where you can't sleep or…or when you do sleep it's a restless sleep?"

"Of course," Sydney admitted, but she never had nightmares like the ones she'd seen Nigel have. "But that usually means that I have something on my mind that I'm not willing to deal with."

Nigel grew silent again.

"Is there something on your mind, Nigel? Maybe if you talked about it you'd sleep better?"

"It wouldn't help. It's just…a bad time of year for me, Syd." He sighed. "It…I guess I am a Grinch, like Claudia said…although I'm not at all sure what that means; but it's probably something unsavory, knowing her."

"You don't know who the Grinch is, Nigel?"

He shook his head.

"The character from Dr. Seuss. You know, The Grinch That Stole Christmas, The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham?

Nigel stared at her, blankly. "Sorry?"

Sometimes Sydney forgot the difference in their cultures, but she was sure that those children books were read all over the world. "Your parents never read any of the stories to you?"

There were times when you said something in the most innocent manner and wished that you could eat those words seconds later, this was one of those times. Sydney watched, concerned as Nigel crossed his arms over his chest and turned back to the window, the little pulse in his jaw flexing from the sudden tension.

"No."

She turned her attention back to the window and silently cursed. It was a crapshoot of how Nigel would react when the subject of his parents came up. When he was volunteering the information, like when he told Sydney about how his father used to tell him the story of St. Gabriel, he was animated and cheerful, but other times, he became sullen or he'd quickly change the subject; especially lately. She could see that it was painful for him, and it frustrated her.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.


End file.
